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Why does NEC require circuit breaker locks only on hard-wired appliance circuits?

I flagged the third answer to this question as "not an answer". It was declined by a moderator who left a comment " maybe so, but good information none the less".

So it clearly wasn't an answer, the moderator agreed it wasn't an answer, the answer was down voted because there was wrong information in it stating it was dangerous because breakers wouldn't trip when in fact breakers must be trip free.

So can good (bad) information that clearly doesn't answer the question now be an answer?

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I declined the "not an answer" flag because I felt that there was still some good reference info in the posting even though the answer did not directly address the original question directly. There is always an "opinion factor" here but I invite @JACK to be aware that there are many best answer postings on this site, over the past years, that have veered off the course of direct answer in favor of offering advice, color, or important related information that have been helpful to the DIY community as a whole.

The strict "an answer must 100% address the question" is a short sighted view of what this site can offer to a DIY poster. Please realize that many questions here come from folks that really need some guidance to see or learn about a slightly wider view of what they have asked. I am not willing to be so pedantic as to analyze how this applies to the specific decline decision that I made on the flag in question. However I would ask that you be a little more flexible on what is allowed and not allowed here. Starting to own that will make your time here and that of others more relaxed and enjoyable.

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    While I disagree with the decline, I will start to be so open minded that my brains will fall out. Thanks for responding.
    – JACK
    Apr 9, 2021 at 0:58
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I can't speak for the moderator who declined your flag, but I would have probably done the same. The first reason we are presented with on the "decline" form is:

  • flags should not be used to indicate technical inaccuracies, or an altogether wrong answer

In my opinion this definitely falls into that category and therefore should have been declined.

Answers that are wrong should be down-voted, not flagged. Once they have been down-voted those with enough reputation (20k+) can vote to delete themselves without involving the moderators.

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    But I didn't flag it because of technical inaccuracies, or an altogether wrong answer. I flagged it because it didn't answer the OP's question. If the moderator that declined it used the reasoning you did, I would have just let it go. It was declined because it was "good" information. It should have been a comment. Thank you for responding
    – JACK
    Apr 7, 2021 at 23:34
  • Your last paragraph was/is very informative.
    – JACK
    Apr 8, 2021 at 21:12

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